British Prime Minister David Cameron (file photo)
British Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party took a rare lead over the opposition Labour party in an opinion poll on Monday, despite Cameron suffering a high profile political defeat in Europe last week.
With less than 12 months to go until a national election next May the telephone poll of 1,006 adults showed a 5 percentage point rise in support for the Conservatives, putting them on 33 percent compared to Labour's 31 percent.
Most opinion polls in the last two years have given Labour a consistent poll lead that has at times stretched into double digits.
Monday's poll was conducted during and after Cameron's attempt to block Jean-Claude Juncker from becoming the next European Commission president was defeated by other European Union leaders in a 26-2 vote.
The Conservatives took a poll lead for the first time since March 2012 in May, when two surveys published on the same day put them 2 percentage points ahead of Labour.
Monday's poll was funded by Michael Ashcroft, a Conservative peer and a former deputy chairman of Cameron's party. He has said his surveys are apolitical and designed to unearth uncomfortable truths for all parties.
© Thomson Reuters 2014